Consulting-Specifying Engineer - March 2009 - (Page 5) EDITORIAL STAFF MICHAEL G. IVANOVICH, Editor-in-Chief michael.ivanovich@reedbusiness.com SCOTT SIDDENS, Senior Editor ssiddens@reedbusiness.com AMARA ROZGUS, Senior Editor & Manager of E-Content amara.rozgus@reedbusiness.com PATRICK LYNCH, Associate Editor patrick.lynch@reedbusiness.com MYLES ADAMSON, Art Director EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD ANIL AHUJA, PE, LEED AP, RCDD, President, CCJM Engineers, Chicago PATRICK BANSE, PE, LEED AP, Senior Mechanical Engineer Smith Seckman Reid Inc., Houston PAUL BEARN, PE, Associate Electrical Services Engineer KlingStubbins, Philadelphia DAVID COOPER, PE, LEED AP, President and CEO WSP Flack + Kurtz, New York PETER D’ANTONIO, PE, LEED AP, President PCD Engineering Services Inc., Longmont, Colo. DOUGLAS EVANS, PE, Fire Protection Engineer Clark County Building Division, Las Vegas RAYMOND GRILL, PE, FSFPE, Principal Arup, Washington, D.C. RAJ P. GUPTA, PE, LEED AP, President Environmental Systems Design Inc., Chicago GERSIL KAY, President Conservation Lighting Intl. and Building Conservation Intl., Philadelphia WILLIAM KOSIK, PE, LEED AP, Managing Principal EYP Mission Critical Facilities Inc., Chicago TIMOTHY E. KUHLMAN, PE, RCDD, Electrical Engineer, CH2M Hill, Portland, Ore. KEITH LANE, PE, RCDD, LC, LEED AP, Partner/Principal Lane Coburn & Assocs., Seattle KENNETH L. LOVORN, PE, President Lovorn Engineering Assocs., Pittsburgh JOHN MAGLIANO, PE, Chairman SH Group Inc., New York ERIN MCCONAHEY, PE, Associate Principal, Arup, Los Angeles SYED PEERAN, PE, Ph.D., Senior Engineer Camp Dresser & McKee Inc., Cambridge, Mass. MARTIN H. REISS, PE, FSFPE, President, CEO The RJA Group Inc., Framingham, Mass. DAVID SELLERS, PE, Senior Engineer Facility Dynamics Engineering Inc., Portland, Ore. E. CHARLES STEINMAN, PE, Principal Electrical Engineer Stanley Consultants, Highlands Ranch, Colo. JOHN SUZUKIDA, PE, President Lanex Consulting LLC, Shoreview, Minn. PETER D. ZAK, PE, Principal GRAEF, Milwaukee Consulting-Specifying Engineer’s editorial offices are located at 2000 Clearwater Dr., Oak Brook, IL 60523. Phone 630-288-8000. For subscription information, call 303-470-4445 or go to: www.getFREEmag.com/cse. For reprints, call 800-290-5460 x100 or e-mail cse@ theygsgroup.com. REED BUSINESS INFORMATION Founded in 1933 Tad Smith, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Greisch, President, Chicago Division Editor’s Viewpoint Are you Cx certifiable? Who isn’t? Michael Ivanovich, Editor-in-Chief A SHRAE will be unveiling its certification program for commissioning (Cx) in June. In doing so, it will become the sixth organization offering a Cx certification credential. Certifications are currently offered by Associated Air Balance Council (AABC), Assoc. of Energy Engineers (AEE), Building Commissioning Assoc. (BCA), National Environmental Balancing Bureau (NEBB), and University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM). Adding to the pile, some of these organizations have more than one certification credential. UWM, for example, has three (Cx authority, process manager, and technical support) and NEBB has two (commissioning and retrocommissioning). Having been the executive director of the BCA during a sabbatical from publishing, I understand the rationale for having a program for certifying Cx providers. An organization raises its prestige by establishing qualifications for professionals and accrediting practitioners. Revenues are created for testing and training, plus a modest increase in sales of materials that would help candidates prepare for the training and exam. And let’s not forget fees for periodic recertification. These revenues aren’t huge, but they if they merely pay for the program costs, then they’re worth it for the prestige factor and turf protection. And the intent of certification is honorable—to establish baseline criteria for quality services and thus, in an emerging industry, keep the wannabes and shysters out. But with six certifying organizations offering credentials with a wide disparity in eligibility requirements and scope of Cx involvement, the movement toward certification has let the wannabes and shysters in. Few owners will do the homework needed to decipher the differences between the higher quality certifications and the lower quality certifications. Thus, certification has fractured the public understanding of what commissioning is, who does it, and what constitutes quality Cx services. Consider the disparity in qualifications among the certification programs: Required experience ranges from none to three years of leading Cx projects. Some require references; most do not. The only thing all programs have in common is the passing of an exam, and exams are a poor way to assess a person’s ability to perform on projects in the field. Additionally, certifications can commoditize Cx. Take a veteran, highly successful Cx provider who refuses to become certified but can commission everything from a biosafety lab to an office building. Such a veteran would cost more than a much less experienced, but certified, practitioner. An owner looking for a Cx provider might think the certification “guarantees” a qualified provider and take the less expensive route. Where Cx certification is required, commoditization will surely happen. If certification truly is needed and helpful to the industry, AABC, AEE, ASHRAE, BCA, NEBB, and UWM need to hash out a single certification program. Send your questions and comments to: Michael.Ivanovich@reedbusiness.com Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2009 5 http://www.getFREEmag.com/cse
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.